How to turn your travel dreams into reality! The must-do system for making your dreams actually happen.

Join me on Periscope this week for my new #TravelGoals series! You already know I'm obsessed with Periscope if you've been reading this blog for a while, but some of the best and most powerful aspects of Periscope are the live and global aspects: talking to people in real time, from all over the world.

Seriously so cool.

I downloaded Periscope about a month after it was released and I still get chills from all the cool things around the world we get to watch.

This week I'm doing a 3-day mini series on #TravelGoals. Make sure to follow me (@allyarcher) and turn notifications on! We're going to cover:

The best ways to make money while you travel

Common myths around getting a travel job

3 Essential steps to go from zero to ADVENTURE!

This week, I challenge you to take one step toward your #TravelGoals.

That could be ordering your passport if you don't already have one.

It could be telling your friends that you're going to do whatever job in whatever country.

It could be creating a RTW itinerary for 2016.

It could be booking that flight.

For me, it's applying for a work + travel opportunity in Europe for 2016.

It's less intimidating when we do this together.

Whatever it is, I encourage you to take the leap with me. Share with me on Twitter (@allyarcher) the step you're taking with #TravelGoals and #YourEpicAdventure so we can encourage each other to live these dreams. Let's do this together!

Galaxy

Dreams > Goals > Reality

If you get my newsletter, you read about my Dreams > Goals > Reality system last week. This is where we go from figuring out what we want, to how we're going to do it.

The issue is that oftentimes we get lost while thinking about what we want, and forget about the middle section - the most important part - GOALS!

In order to make our dreams a reality, we need to first turn our dreams into goals. This is where we often get stuck - we have this vague idea of what we want with no plan. Without a plan (goal) it’s easy to put the dream on the back burner, saying we’ll get to it “tomorrow” or “someday.”

What we really need to do is make a plan in order to turn our dreams into reality. Get started now, so you can hit the ground running next year.

I have a quick exercise for you.

First I want you to take out a pen and paper and separate it into sections for these three steps:

Dreams

Goals

Reality

In the Dreams section, write out what that one thing you’re constantly thinking about. Is it travel-related? Me too! (Mine are almost ALWAYS travel related. Haha). This could be any dream that has been on your mind lately.

Now skip to the Reality section. In this section, write “I am [insert whatever your dream is here].” So this could be “I am on a RTW trip spanning Europe, the Middle East, and Asia having the time of my life!” or “I am teaching English in Peru!” or “I have saved x amount of money for a round trip flight to my #1 destination!”

So the Dreams and the Reality sections are the easiest. We can think about what we want and even visualize ourselves living those dreams. It’s always good to have the Dreams and the Reality sitting in the back of our heads when we get complacent, but complacent doesn’t get you anywhere.

The Goals section is perhaps the toughest of the three, though it is the most important. This is where we come up with the action plan to get from Step 1 (Dreams) to Step 3 (Reality). Goals keep you from being complacent.

Goals are strategic. They are the “how” of how you’re going to make it happen. Goals need to include specific actions and a time frame. For example, the goal to teach English abroad could be “Get TEFL certificate and complete the training by March 2016. Have begun planning the move by this time, and be preparing to move by April 2016.”

That goal isn’t extremely specific, though the more specific it is, the better. It includes what you’re going to do, when you’re going to do it.

The only other piece to having a strong plan in motion is keeping yourself accountable. Whenever you feel your motivation begin to fade, keep telling yourself that the Reality WILL happen, and that it’s worth it.

Having a Dreams > Goals > Reality system makes you stop saying “someday” so you can get to down to business and make it happen.